For this blog I decided to read through my journal and find a few pages that meant something to me from the time I spent on Work Crew at Windy Gap (a YoungLife camp) around this time last year. (disclaimer: this may or may not be because of my lack of inspo lately:)) I had never felt more intimate or close to God as I did during this season of my life. And it makes me all the more excited for The Race because I recall how great a family of believers I had in that community, and it was only for a month. Soon I’ll get to spend NINE months with people who are like-minded in pursuing a life with Jesus in a beautiful community of believers with the same calling. I love looking back and reflecting on my thoughts and prayers during Work Crew. The month I spent there completely changed my life, and I think it is important to look back on times like these and ask myself questions. Questions like, “am I still praying this prayer when hard things happen?” or “am I listening and receiving what God has for me?” I believe it helps in preparing your heart for… well, anything and everything really.
You see, memories are funny things. Some memories make me cringe and I quickly push them out of my mind; others just make my heart so light that I can’t help but smile. I passed my old elementary school last night and tried to remember everything I could about that place. The thrill of the school carnival, pulling up onions from the ground at recess, what my classrooms looked like, waiting for my mom in the car-rider line, the song I sang in the school play. Things I like to reflect on. Things that make me daydream hard.
So, here’s a little piece of my heart from a while ago:
June 21, 2017
Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. -Psalm 143:8
Each day is new. With each dawn and rising of the sun we have the assurance that yesterday is gone, and an even greater comfort that through Jesus, our sins, the things we have done, and the things that have been done to us cannot define or have a hold on us. God’s love is unfailing and constant , just as the sun never fails to rise in the morning, even if it’s cloudy and we can’t see the magnificent colors in the sky; the sun is still rising. To have a relationship with Jesus is to trust Him. I am not very good at this sometimes. Okay… a lot of the time. But we must constantly ask “show me the way I should go” Lord, because our entire life, our fate, our should are in your hands. In every situation we should ask this. And we should learn to trust Him. Trust Him with it all.
June 26, 2017
Mark 5:24-34 – the story of the bleeding woman.
To have something broken inside for 12 years… it seems like you would need more than a moment’s worth of healing. The bleeding woman reached out to Jesus. We bump into Jesus every day in a million different ways, but Steve explained this at the club talk: Jesus knows the difference between a bump and a touch. A touch is intentional. To be broken for 12 years; my heart and soul would be hopeless. If my heart were still broken from the people I thought loved me and then proved they did not, the affect it would have on me would be terrible, full of emptiness, loneliness, shame and self-pity. It captures my heart that Jesus would stop in the middle of a huge crowd just to see who had reached out to him in faith. And then he calls her DAUGHTER. Daughter!!! He tells her that because she reached out to him, she has been healed, set free! He truly does cares for us. And loves us all the more. I’ll keep reaching out to Him.
Much love,
Abigail
